There are a wide variety of associated devices that can be connected to a gaming machine such as a slot machine or video poker machine. Some examples of these devices are lights, ticket printers, card readers, speakers, bill validators, ticket readers, coin acceptors, display panels, key pads, coin hoppers and button pads. Many of these devices are built into the gaming machine or components associated with the gaming machine such as a top box which usually sits on top of the gaming machine.
Typically, utilizing a master gaming controller, the gaming machine controls various combinations of devices that allow a player to play a game on the gaming machine and also encourage game play on the gaming machine. For example, a game played on a gaming machine usually requires a player to input money or indicia of credit into the gaming machine, indicate a wager amount, and initiate a game play. These steps require the gaming machine to control input devices, including bill validators and coin acceptors, to accept money into the gaming machine and recognize user inputs from devices, including key pads and button pads, to determine the wager amount and initiate game play. After game play has been initiated, the gaming machine determines a game outcome, presents the game outcome to the player and may dispense an award of some type depending on the outcome of the game.
As technology in the gaming industry progresses, the traditional method of dispensing coins or tokens as awards for winning game outcomes is being supplemented by ticket dispensers which print ticket vouchers that may be exchanged for cash or accepted as credit of indicia in other gaming machines for additional game play. An award ticket system, which allows award ticket vouchers to be dispensed and utilized by other gaming machines, increases the operational efficiency of maintaining a gaming machine and simplifies the player pay out process. An example of an award ticket system is the EZ pay ticket system by IGT of Reno, Nev. Award ticket systems and systems using other cashless mediums, such as smart cards, are referred to as cashless systems.
Cashless systems, such as the EZ pay ticket system, provide advantages to both game players and casino operators. For example, many players find it more convenient to carry an award ticket than a large number of coins. For gaming machine operators cashless systems tend to reduce gaming machine operating costs. For example, the infrastructure needed to remove and count indicia of credit (e.g. coins, tokens, bills) from the gaming machine may be eliminated or minimized when it is replaced with a cashless system, which reduces the gaming machine operating costs. Further, coin dust, which is potentially damaging to the components of the gaming machine (e.g. electronic components) may be eliminated or minimized when coin acceptors are replaced with the cashless system.
A concern in any cashless system is security. Typically, cashless instruments store a cash value that is ultimately redeemable for cash. Unfortunately, cashless instruments, such as printed tickets or smart cards, can be vulnerable to fraud in some instances, particularly where such instruments or systems of instruments are used in relatively simple formats or security architectures. A gaming entity, such as casino, that issues the cashless instrument can be liable for any cash that is obtained using the cashless instrument whether the cashless instrument is used in a valid or a fraudulent manner. While existing systems and methods for providing cashless instruments associated with gaming devices and gaming systems have been adequate in the past, improvements are usually welcomed and encouraged that reduce the potential and/or limit damages resulting from fraud. In light of the foregoing, it is thus desirable to develop methods and systems for preventing or reducing fraud and other potential problems associated with cashless instruments.
Conventional smart cards used for cashless gaming often employ the Gemplus file format model of storing and capturing information. The Gemplus format permits a credit balance, along with other information, to be stored on a Gemplus card. Credit can be deducted from a Gemplus card for use in gaming or for small transactions, such as with merchants who are not connected with a credit card network. If a Gemplus card is stolen, only money that is stored on the Gemplus card will be lost.
An application running on a device communicating with a Gemplus card is used to update and retrieve data from the Gemplus card. For example, the application may be running on a card reader or a device in communication with the card reader. Updating values stored on a Gemplus card may be accomplished using symmetric key encryption (e.g., 3DES). The Gemplus card updates the credit balance stored on the Gemplus card if the request is encrypted with the appropriate cryptographic key. However, if any applications were permitted to add to a balance stored on the card, then a user possessing such a key would be able to add value to a card without paying. Thus, in the Gemplus system, different symmetric keys are used for the debiting and crediting functions. In this way, many systems have the ability to retransfer credit from Gemplus cards, while the ability to add credit to Gemplus cards is limited to trusted parties.
These conventional techniques suffer from several drawbacks. For example, if a cryptographic key for updating credit balances on a Gemplus card is discovered by an attacker, then all Gemplus cards that use that cryptographic key are compromised, since the cryptosystem is symmetric. As another example, a Gemplus card verifies that a request to update a value is encrypted with the correct key, but not whether the requester is authorized to make the request. As yet another example, communication with Gemplus cards is susceptible to interception and alteration (e.g., at the card read/write interface of the card reader). Due to these and other weaknesses, hackers have been able to cheat the Gemplus system for profit.
In addition, the limited capabilities of the Gemplus system make it unsuitable for cashless gaming. For example, the Gemplus format provides only three bytes of memory for storing credit. Thus, a Gemplus card may be used for small purchases or low-credit gaming, but it may have insufficient memory for storing larger amounts of credit. As another example, the limitations on adding credit to a Gemplus card mean that a player may not be able to use a Gemplus card to cash out a gaming machine after a gaming session. That is, the credit value stored on the gaming machine may not be moved to the Gemplus card. As yet another example, the Gemplus system uses proprietary hardware for Gemplus cards that is only available from licensed suppliers, thus resulting in increased cost for each card.
Thus, a need exists for cashless gaming techniques having expanded capabilities and greater security.